Manicure tools



Jime 28, 1955. M E FLEM NG 2,711,747

- MANICURE TOOLS Filed April 9, 1951 v v INVENTDRI MARGARET ELLEN F'LEMINE' BY $0 171 fl/mkmm ATTBRNEY MANICURE TOOLS Margaret E. Fleming, Niagara Falls, N. Y., assignor to John Stuart Fleming, Niagara Falls, N. Y.

Application April 9, 1951, Serial No. 220,063

7 Claims. (Cl. 132-76.4)

The invention relates to manicure tools, having for an object to provide a cuticle pusher of increased efficiency and more cushioned than known cuticle pushers, thereby avoiding danger of injury to the quick. Another object is to provide such a cuticle pusher which may be produced in quantity at small cost and discarded after use so that it is more sanitary. Another object is to provide such a cuticle pusher which is self-cushioned and made of material inherently not self-cushioned. Another object is to provide such a cuticle pusher composed of a plurality of superposed parallel thin paper layers, the forward end portions of said paper layers comprising a plurality of superposed parallel single thin paper tongues having rounded forward edges and rear boundaries extending transversely of the pusher, and means for connecting said paper layers together terminating forwardly at the rear boundaries of said paper tongues, said paper tongues being free of connection with one another and held together at their rear boundaries by said connecting means. Each paper tongue is individually yieldable from its forward edge rearwardly thereof and adapted to bear a part of the cuticle pushing load, the plurality of superposed paper tongues being collectively less yieldable from their forward edges rearwardly thereof and adapted to bear the entire load, which entire load is distributed among the plural tongues, thereby rendering the pusher selfcushioned and avoiding need for the use of raw cotton or other additional cushioning material. Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter or will be obvious.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combinations 'of parts as hereinafter set forth in the claims.

In these drawings, 7

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the manicure tool in its flat form, on an enlarged scale, the forward end of the tool being beveled to cause the rounded edges of the paper tongue to successively recede.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the tool, showing the emery, this view being also on an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the blank; also on an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4, Figure 5.

Figure 5 is a side view of the tool as shown in Fig. l, modified to show the tool as of concavo-convex form.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section on the line 6-6, Figure 4, showing the forward end of the tool beveled.

Known cuticle pushers of metal or wood are not cushioned. Paper is not used because it is ordinarily too soft or yielding and/or too absorbent. If the paper is made stiff enough it would resemble wood in not being cushioned. By the use of superposed individually thin paper tongues having a combined thickness approximately equal to that of the average cuticle the rounded forward end of the tool is cushioned due to the yielding of the separate tongues. This yielding of the separate tongues may be accentuated by beveling the forward end of the tool so that the paper tongues function successively, without prejuclice to their collective action in cuticle pushing.

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In these drawings, the numeral 1 designates the cuticle pusher having opposite spaced longitudinal edges 1'. The pusher is composed of a plurality of superposed parallel thin paper layers 4 having their adjacent surfaces in contact with one another, the forward end portions of said paper layers 4 comprising a plurality of superposed parallel thin single paper tongues 4 having their adjacent surfaces in contact with one another, said paper tongues having rounded forward edges 3 and rear boundaries 3' extending transversely of the pusher, said rear boundaries being constituted by the junctures of said paper tongues 4 with said paper layers 4 as illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings. Means are provided for connecting said paper layers 4 together and for holding them together in parallel with their adjacent surfaces in contact and for holding said paper tongues 4' together in parallel with their adjacent surfaces in contact consisting of paper fold connections 10 of the paper layers 4 extending along both longitudinal edges of the pusher and terminating forwardly at the rear boundaries 3' of said paper tongues, said paper tongues 4 being free of connection with one another and bound together at their rear boundaries 3 by said connecting means similarly to the leaves of a book. The paper layers 4 may be pasted together in any suitable manner so as not to interfere with the paper tongues 4' being free of connection with one another and with the flexibility of the forward end portion 2 of the pusher transversely thereof.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the paper fold connections 10 of the paper layers 4 terminate forwardly immediately in rear of the rounded forward edges 3 of the paper tongues 4', as a consequence of which the paper tongues 4 are segmental and more readily held together in parallel with their adjacent surfaces in contact than if said paper fold connections 10 did not so terminate forwardly.

In order that the paper fold connections 10 of the paper layers shall extend along both longitudinal edges of the pusher, there must be provided at least three superposed paper layers.

As a consequence of the provision of the plurality of superposed parallel thin single paper tongues 4 having their adjacent surfaces in contact and free of connection with one another and bound together at their rear boundaries 3 similarly to the leaves of a book, each paper tongue 4' in cuticle pushing is individually yieldable from its forward edge 3 towards its rear boundary 3' and adapted to bear a part of the cuticle pushing load, and the plurality of superposed paper tongues are collectively less yieldable from their forward edges 3 towards their rear boundaries 3' and adapted to bear the entire load, which entire load is distributed among the plural tongues 4', thereby rendering the pusher self-cushioned and avoiding need for the use of raw cotton or other additional cushioning material. A single paper tongue 4' is too yieldable from its forward edge towards its rear boundary to form a cuticle pusher and too yieldable to be cushioned.

The forward end portion 2 of the pusher is flexible transversely thereof to enable said paper tongues 4' to be brought into hugging relationship with the transversely curved surface of the finger nail in line with the cuticle hugging said surface, thereby increasing the efficiency of the pusher. The forward thin edge 3 of the lowermost paper tongue 4 acts as a scraping edge, being capable of getting under and scraping the cuticle from the finger nail while the paper tongues collectively push the cuticle rearwardly, thereby further increasing the efficiency of the pusher.

The paper tongues 4 have a constant width transversely of the pusher and a length successively less from the lowermost paper tongue upwardly, the forward edges 3 of the paper tongues 4' successively receding due to the forward end of the pusher being beveled, thereby enabling the forward thin edge 3 of the lowermost paper tongue to better perform its function of getting under and scraping the cuticle from the finger nail and increasing the self-cushioning of the plurality of superposed paper tongues 4 in that they function successively without prejudice to their collective action in cuticle pushing.

The rear end portion of the tool may comprise a central notch 5 and pointed bifurcations 6 cushioned by the paper layers thereof for cleaning under the nails and under the cuticle.

The tool is preferably made from a single blank 7 of paper or the like, having a plurality of subdivisions 8 each of which is of the same shape as that of the tool, said blank being folded on the fold lines starting from one longitudinal edge thereof to superpose said subdivisions as layers upon one another. Thus the portions of said paper layers located rearwardly of said tongue 4 will be connected along both longitudinal edges of the tool by the paper fold connections 19 for said layers to thereby stiffen the tool longitudinally and to aid in holding the paper layers together and the tool in form.

The superposed paper layers also have the effect of stiffening the tool longitudinally, which is important in view of the fact that the thickness of the tool is limited, as stated.

The tool is preferably concave-convex so that its forward end portion 2 need not be so much flexed to enable said tongues 4' to hug the finger nail in use and also for the purpose of further stiffening the tool longitudinally.

A strip of emery for use as a nail file may be secured preferably within the longitudinal groove of the tool resulting from its concavo-convex form. The thickness of the paper layers and the number of paper layers of which the tool is composed may be varied to suit the need.

The multiple tongues 4 of the forward end portion 2 of the tool are designed to gently separate the cuticle from the nail and push the cuticle backwardly without danger of injury to the quick. The pointed bifurcations 6 of the rear end of the tool are firm enough without being unyielding so that they are efiicient in cleaning under the nails and under the cuticle without danger of injury to the quick. I

Although constructed of paper, the tool made as stated is firm and easy to hold and operate.

In use, the tool held between the thumb and middle finger of one hand may be guided by the index finger pressing down upon the flexible forward end portion 2 of the tool to cause said paper tongues 4' to hug the nail and operate evenly around the cuticle of a finger of the other hand.

The paper layers may be pasted together in any suitable manner to hold the layers together and to further stiffen the tool longitudinally. For example, the rear end portion of the tool may have its paper layers pasted together to render it substantially solid to facilitate its use as a handle. Or, the outermost loose subdivision 8 of the folded blank 7 may be pasted down to the subdivision 8 immediately thereunder from end to end this pasting being restricted to leave the paper tongues 4 free to be separately yieldable and such as not to interfere with the flexibility of the forward end portion 2 of the tool.

It is obvious that the invention in spirit covers modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims.

The paper material of which the tool is stated to be composed may be substituted by any other equivalent material.

I claim:

l. A self-cushioned cuticle pusher having opposite spaced longitudinal edges, the pusher being composed of a plurality of superposed paper layers, the forward end portions of said layers comprising a plurality of superposed individually thin separately yieldable paper tongues, and connecting means for said paper layers consisting of paper connections extending along both longitudinal edges of the pusher rearwardly of said paper tongues, said tongues having rounded forward edges extending transversely of the pusher, said tongues having equal widths transversely of the pusher and lengths successively less from the lowermost paper tongue upwardly so that the rounded forward edges of said tongues successively recede, the forward end portion of the pusher being flexible transversely thereof to enable said tongues to be brought into hugging relationship with the transversely curved surface of the finger nail in line with the cuticle hugging said surface, the rounded thin forward edge of the lowermost paper tongue being a scraping edge capable of getting under and scraping the cuticle from the finger nail while said tongues collectively push the cuticle rearwardly, the pusher being made from a blank having a plurality of subdivisions each of which is of the same shape as that of the pusher, said blank being folded to superpose said subdivisions as layers upon one another and to provide said paper connections for the paper layers.

2. A self-cushioned cuticle pusher having opposite spaced longitudinal edges and composed of a plurality of superposed parallel thin paper layers having their adjacent surfaces in contact with one another, the forward end portions of said paper layers comprising a plurality of superposed parallel thin single paper tongues having their adjacent surfaces in contact with one another, said paper tongues having rounded forward edges and rear boundaries extending transversely of the pusher, said rear boundaries being constituted by the junctures of said paper tongues with said paper layers, and means for connecting said paper layers together and for holding them together in parallel with their adjacent surfaces in contact and for holding said paper tongues together in parallel with their adjacent surfaces in contact, said connecting means terminating forwardly at the rear boundaries of said paper tongues, said paper tongues being free of connection with one another and being bound together at their rear boundaries by said connecting means.

3. A self-cushioned cuticle pusher as defined in claim 2, characterized in that each paper tongue is individually yieldable from its forward edge towards its rear boundary and adapted to bear a part of the cuticle pushing load, the plurality of superposed paper tongues being collectively less yieldable from their forward edges towards their rear boundaries and adapted to bear the entire load, which entire load is distributed among the plural tongues, thereby rendering the pusher self-cushioned, the forward end portion of the pusher being flexible transversely thereof to enable said paper tongues to be brought into hugging relationship with the transversely curved surface of the finger nail in line with the cuticle hugging said surface, the forward edge of the lowermost paper tongue being a scraping edge capable of getting under and scraping the cuticle from the finger nail while the paper tongues collectively push the cuticle rearwardly.

4. A self-cushioned cuticle pusher as defined in claim 3, characterized in that the pusher is composed of at least three superposed paper layers the forward end portions of which layers comprise at least three superposed paper tongues and in that said connecting means consists of paper fold connections of the paper layers extending along both longitudinal edges of the pusher and termimating. forwardly at the rear boundaries of said paper tongues, the pusher being made from a blank having a plurality of subdivisions, said blank being folded to superpose said subdivisions as layers upon one another and to provide said paper fold connections of the paper layers.

5. A self-cushioned cuticle pusher as defined in claim 4, characterized in that said paper fold connections of the paper layers terminate forwardly immediately in rear of superposed parallel thin paper layers having their adjacent surfaces in contact with one another, the forward end portions of said paper layers comprising a plurality of superposed parallel thin single paper tongues having their adjacent surfaces in contact with one another, said paper tongues having rounded forward edges and rear boundaries extending transversely of the pusher, said rear boundaries being constituted by the junctures of said paper tongues with said paper layers, and paper fold means for connecting said paper layers together rearwardly of said tongues, said paper tongues being free of connection with one another and held together by said connecting means, each paper tongue being individually yieldable from its forward edge towards its rear boundary and adapted to bear a part of the cuticle pushing load,

the plurality of superposed paper tongues being collectively less yieldable from their forward edges towards their rear boundaries and adapted to bear the entire load, which entire load is distributed among the plurality of said tongues, thereby rendering the pusher self-cushioned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 528,317 Bailey Oct. 30, 1894 1,289,952 Struble Dec. 31, 1918 2,192,733 Bader Mar. 5, 1940 2,364,085 Martinek Dec. 5, 1944 

